{"id":125909,"date":"2025-09-01T23:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T23:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/125909\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T23:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T23:27:07","slug":"i-visited-quebec-city-canada-for-european-inspired-trip-on-a-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/125909\/","title":{"rendered":"I Visited Quebec City, Canada, for European-Inspired Trip on a Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s not every day I walk down a street where a Disney princess would be fit to start her opening number, but that’s how I felt in Quebec City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Canadian city is steeped in centuries of history and feels distinctly European, from its cobblestone streets to its largely French-speaking population. <\/p>\n

However, it’s actually just an eight-hour drive (or two-hour flight) from my native New York City.<\/p>\n

After spending just about 72 hours in the city and its surrounding province, I’d say it’s a great place to visit for a taste of Europe in North America<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A walking tour is a great way to see the city and its architectural marvels<\/p>\n

\"Rue<\/p>\n

The best thing to do in Quebec City is to walk. <\/p>\n

David Perry<\/p>\n

There’s just so much to see in the centuries-old Quebec City, which still has preserved remnants of when it was a fortified colonial town.<\/p>\n

It’s an architecture nerd’s dream, from the walls surrounding Old Quebec (that still have many parts intact) to the mix of buildings in a range of design styles.<\/p>\n

For example, the you-can’t-miss-it-it’s-so-big Ch\u00e2teau Frontenac is distinct with its classic 1890s Ch\u00e2teauesque style, while the \u00c9difice Price skyscraper is pure 1929 Art Deco.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

It was easy to spot the Ch\u00e2teau Frontenac throughout the city.<\/p>\n

David Perry<\/p>\n

My hotel stay, which cost about $65 CAD a night, came with a street tour that allowed me to take in many sights, like City Hall, lookouts over the Saint Lawrence River, churches, fountains, and the massive Parliament Building.<\/p>\n

I also enjoyed seeing the National Art Museum, with its extensive collection of Quebecois art.<\/p>\n

All that walking left me hungry \u2014 fortunately, Quebec City has quite the culinary scene, including several options with a French influence.<\/p>\n

On this trip, I had the humble French onion soup at La Buchette, fresh pizzas at Nina Pizza Napolitaine, and burger au fromage de ch\u00e8vre at the cozy Pub Saint-Alexandre.<\/p>\n

Though I didn’t stop by this time, another gem worth highlighting is Tani\u00e8re\u00b3<\/a>, a historic fine-dining restaurant with two Michelin stars that focuses on cooking with fresh, local ingredients from the area.<\/p>\n

There are some incredible vineyards nearby, too<\/p>\n

\"Vineyard<\/p>\n

Some incredible wine is produced near Quebec City.<\/p>\n

David Perry<\/p>\n

I also stopped at Ile d’Orleans, an island in the Saint Lawrence that plays a key role in Quebec’s wine-making industry<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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Luckily, it’s only about a 35-minute drive from downtown Quebec City. From there, I think the area is best explored by bike. <\/p>\n

With its vineyards and bucolic fields, the island felt like a world away from the city \u2014 and I could feel the French passion for winemaking.<\/p>\n

As a wine enthusiast, I made sure to try a signature ice wine<\/a> from Quebec vineyard l’Orpailleur. A sweet dessert wine, it can only be made when grapes freeze.<\/p>\n

Similar to l’Orpailleur, other local Quebecois winemakers like Isle de Bacchus and Vignoble du Mitan have evolved to embrace the cold and use frozen grapes to produce ice wines.<\/p>\n

All in all, my short trip felt like a great value<\/p>\n

\"Stone<\/p>\n

Quebec City is worth visiting.<\/p>\n

David Perry<\/p>\n

For the 72 hours I walked, ate, and drank my way through Quebec City and its surrounding province, I felt like I was in France. A cheap, easy-for-me-to-get-to France!<\/p>\n

All told, I spent about $400 on my trip between the hotel stay, food, and bike rental. My biggest expense was probably the gas to drive from New York to Quebec City and back.<\/p>\n

Even so, my total is still less than what I’d pay for just one plane ticket to France.<\/p>\n

I especially recommend Quebec City to penny-pinching travelers in North America. After all, it’s not every day you find something that is both French and easy on the wallet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s not every day I walk down a street where a Disney princess would be fit to start…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[14854,12558,150,80324,192,80323,80328,6204,37914,31061,80329,4265,80325,80322,80326,79,80327],"class_list":{"0":"post-125909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-area","9":"tag-bike","10":"tag-budget","11":"tag-canadian-city","12":"tag-environment","13":"tag-european-inspired-trip","14":"tag-grape","15":"tag-hotel","16":"tag-hour","17":"tag-island","18":"tag-native-new-york-city","19":"tag-north-america","20":"tag-old-quebec","21":"tag-quebec-city","22":"tag-saint-lawrence-river","23":"tag-science","24":"tag-signature-ice-wine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}